They may. So?

Yes and you can[t reason with them. My sister asks me if I worry that I will go to hell. I tell her it's a fairy tale. All Religions were created by man to give them a meaning to life and something to look forward to after they die. When you die there is nothing. You turn into energy.

LOL! It's not a topic that comes up in any conversations I have. None. Zero.

Oh yes, mine think I'm possesed by the devil..

Sara, to your question, my 80 year old father certainly qualifies as someone worried for my soul. He is more worried about my non-belief than he is about me being gay, which he remains vaguely uncomfortable about and avoids the topic entirely. Every time he prosplytizes at me, I point out not only the factual absurdities of the Christian paradigm, but also it's moral bankruptcy and utter abusivenes toward minorities like myself and, oh, say....All Women! The points are always totally lost on him. He is like talking to a brick wall, one with a dazed look in its eyes. (Sigh)

Probably some do, but I simply do not give a damn.

Mostly. Same ones I'll be seeing there as it turns out.

No

Most of my immediate family isn't religious and don't believe in heaven or hell. My father is Mormon, so only believes in 3 levels of heaven, and Outer Darkness for the really bad ones.

I'm already here

You could visit Hell, Michigan... Meet some very nice people and then tell your friends, for a fact, that you have indeed been to Hell and back and that the people there aren't too bad! See what they say THEN!

I was raised to be Catholic. But even as a kid I was never convinced anything that I was taught at church. I went through the motions, without any true faith. I only did it because my parents told me that's what we do. There was never any mention of if you don't do this you're going to go to hell. And my parents and older sister now know that I'm an atheist. I think that they believe there is a God but they don't really concern themselves with the beliefs of others. They've just accepted that I am atheist and don't expect any more religion for me. They certainly never tell me that I will be going to hell because I don't believe in God. They probably are just a disappointed about it but it certainly doesn't Crush their world.

Pope Francis: 'There Is No Hell'. Pope Francis says, "They are not punished, those who repent obtain the forgiveness of God and enter the rank of souls who contemplate him, but those who do not repent and cannot therefore be forgiven disappear. There is no hell, there is the disappearance of sinful souls.".

Take note, even the holy father dismisses the idea of hell. I am a bit wary of posting this as I was pilloried for being less than sympathetic to a woman on here who was heartbroken that she was realising that heaven did not exist. Honestly neither heaven,hell, or purgatory exist.

Everybody tells me that all the time.... I just tell them something like hell doesn't exist, prove it, or quote the bible to them.... It annoys the hell out of them...

I have never actually considered that question! My children would not question a heaven or hell, as they were raised as atheists, and my father admitted that he did not believe in a god, but my mother was raised as a methodist. And - while she has not been in a church in forever, probably the last time was a funeral or a wedding - I doubt she cares to give it much thought. My brothers and sister and I are unapologetic atheists, and she has accepted us for who and what we are. It is nice to not be judged or questioned!

I asked my mom and dad when I was 10 years old if I had to believe in God and would I be in trouble if I didnt. They told me that I answered my own question and we continued to drive to dinner while listening to Styx. My dad, years later told me that he too was an atheist and that was when I realized I was not alone.

Both of my brothers have converted to Catholicism because of their spouses. Because of that, they think I will spend a longer time in purgatory than they possibly will.

Well i think that was written by a bunch of people who had no concept of the universe. i think they wanted to use the carot and the stick to control people thru fear and intimidation. i don't think there is anything to worry about. those people that think that way are not worrying about other peoples hell

I love to point out that the concept of Hel and Shaitan are ancient Moslem constructs or reward and punishment (whatever they were called before Mohamed -- one side of the children of Abraham). The ancient Jews also adopted this concept. But they eventually realized the concept of reward and punishment by a god was a horrible idea meant for children and began to move away from it. Yeshua (Jesus) brought the Hindu religion of the triumvirate, turn the other check, heaven and hell back from India (where do you think he went from the age of 12 to 30). The Pharisees didn't like this as it brought unstable social unrest, which would have caused the Romans to wipe out the Jewish settlement (look up how ancient Rome captured and maintained control over all their conquered territories and cities). Both Rome and the Pharisees knew that Jesus would end up a martyr and tried to avoid it -- that's why they didn't want to take responsibility for his death. The Jewish people splintered into those that needed reward and punishment and those who didn't. My 2 cents.

You need to ask them where hell is located, and then, if you get an answer, ask them to tell you exactly how they know this.

Seriously. Believing in hell is a lot like believing in god, angels, witches, goblins and zombies. And the tooth faerie!!! I don't question Santa Claus. I know he's real!!

My aunt thinks I might be going to hell, because of my anti-theist position especially towards Christianity

Most do, at least the ones that know, the others just assume what they will with me.

You are correct on all counts. We can't go to a imaginary place when we die. so live life to the fullest.

Being around people who believe people who don’t believe in their god will go to hell or something strange like that is definitely awkward. I see this as a scare tactic. I don’t like being around bullies and see this in a similar light. If you are going to insult my intelligence by believing something that is unprovable, while at the same time looking badly upon someone who does not share your beliefs, then what does that make you? I could stoop to their level and say they are ignorant and stupid. But to do so would make me just as bad. Believe what you want to believe. But don’t impose your beliefs on me in some other form. Don’t take away planned parenthood, or the teaching of evolution, or something else extreme that in reality is more provable than not.

I have a close circle of mostly enlightened Freethinker friends who understand me and I couldn't care less about what my so-called family thinks. I've been estranged from them a long time.